Faced with budget constraints and increasing demand by their constituents, local governments continue to struggle to provide the services required by taxpayers. As pressures mount to hold the line on taxes and residents and businesses resist new user-based revenue streams, new and invative service delivery methods must be identified and implemented. Member municipalities of Brown County, Wisconsin, formed the Brown County Public Works Association in 2005. Originally formed to function as a means for information exchange amongst the members, the BCPWA has evolved to be a true cooperative effort to better serve the municipalities in the Greater Green Bay metropolitan area. From mutual aid assistance due to natural disasters to leveraging joint purchasing of goods and services, the members of BCPWA have realized significant savings in project and program delivery by identifying opportunities to work together to serve their individual needs. Examples of cooperative efforts include mutual aid during sw events, cooperative bidding for water tank painting projects, and collaborative pavement marking programs. After this session, participants will be able to:
• Identify opportunities for municipalities to leverage combined buying power to reduce the cost of goods and services required for day-to-day operations.
• Evaluate the benefits of local mutual assistance agreements to share resources in times of natural disaster.
• Promote the benefits of mutual assistance in program delivery to their local elected officials.

Contributor/Source

Steven Grenier

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